I mean, we’re just starting out. Everybody’s finally just opening their eyes and, and realizing that yes, in fact, it does happen in the United States and yes, it does happen in the Midwest…like I said…it happened to me 17 years ago and up until probably a year ago, my story, people would look at me like I was, had four heads and must’ve had a really good trip on some acid. Because yeah, they’re like that doesn’t happen. I’m like yes, it does. Way more than you think it does.
[…]
You know, they prey upon girls out here in the Midwest because we’re naïve, because we don’t know about the big cities... We’re a lot more trusting…and they love to hit these small towns. I mean, that’s a big thing. People don’t realize. They think because in a small town, USA, population 1500, that they’re safe. No! They’re more vulnerable than anybody else. You know? You don’t even lock your door.
[…]
Giving better education, I think, is going to be, the, the biggest key. Ok. Because they’re all, I mean, they’re not creative. They’re all the same. They use the same…bait. They do the same…they have their pattern and, you know, unfortunately, it’s what works because most people are unaware of what their pattern is.
[…]
So educate the parents, the teachers very much, girls, absolutely. But the signs, but also that they are valued. And don’t…depend on one person’s opinion of you. Your friends’ opinions, all of your friends, all, your whole social support network. Is worth more than one person’s word…And if you can communicate that and get that across to other kids, then I feel they won’t fall victim to not only trafficking, but violence.
[…]
I think education needs to start definitely as early as 5th grade…Every child needs to be educated, you know? The teachers need to educate. High school teachers need to be educated as to what to watch for. You know, if they’re noticing a girl getting isolated and starting to look a little withdrawn, that’s an important thing to notice….Boys definitely. Boys, boys are trafficked just as much as girls.
[…]
But then also you have the um, law enforcement agencies that need to understand if a girl calls the sheriff’s office and says this has happened to me, they should know who to contact for that girl to get her justice… Don’t look at it like the girl’s automatically coming off of some hare-brained drug trip story. You know? Treat her like she’s a human being. She hasn’t been treated like a human being in a while….
[…]
And there’s a point which you separate them [in the ER] to give her that information…And she may not take it. The first time or the second time. You know? But at least she knows. You know, [name of organization redacted] actually puts out lipsticks with their, with their numbers on, on there…You know getting that kind of information to a girl is just priceless…So yeah, emergency rooms need to be knowing of ways to more discreetly give information…Here, here’s some clothes, and some makeup and there are numbers on the makeup so if you need to call – he’s not going to look. He’s not going to search the makeup…So when they get that moment that they can call, they can call. They got the information…Nothing obvious.
[…]
Yeah. Hotels? Hotels would be really great, I mean, they put the Gideon bible in there you could very much well put in, you know, the hotline information somehow some way, you know….Many hotels I have been in...it would be a perfect place to put information in…Even if it’s just the hotel worker seeing this situation, getting that feeling and going, oh, hey, you know what? I got this little, you know, travel-sized pocket for you, you know, and it’s on a shampoo bottle or, you know. A toothbrush or something…Things I wish were there for me…Huge impact. Huge impact…Eventually everybody wants to leave…They want to go home. They want to live normal [lives].
[…]
Jails…because: a), it removes her from the men; b) it cleans her up. She dries out. I mean, it’s just like another safe house. And by the time she gets out, he’s already moved on to new merchandise. She’s now free to, you know, free to move wherever she needs to move, you know?…I mean, going in and saying hey, you know, when you get out, we, we’ve got this place for you where you can start to kind of rebuild your life, get the education you need…Telling that to them is going to be huge because they get out of jail, they don’t know what to do. They got no money, they got no home… you work on a program to…make them see that no, this man did not take care of you. This man gave you, yes, what you needed, but the large majority of the money you made went into his pocket. You survived only because he said yes or no.
[…]
Safe house is one of the biggest things, you know, trying to get the girls a safe, secluded area for them to debrief. I think immediately, they need to be put in a place where they feel safe. Because they’re in shell-shock. And until that dissipates, they need to be just somewhere where they know they’re safe. Where every sound doesn’t make them jump under the bed, where you know, a certain car driving by doesn’t, you know. That would be safe houses.
[…]
I would not have gone to a shelter. Ever. Yeah, that’s not an option. It’s just too traumatizing. A program to rebuild is a very different thing.
[On rescuing women against their will]
No. No, no, no. Not unless they want, not unless they’re asking for it [to be rescued]. You know, and you can ask them, but if they say no and they’re not ready, don’t, don’t force it, you know? Just, you know, go like, okay, well, look, it’s on, the numbers are on there. There you go. Call us if you need it, but.
[…]
And then getting them back into a program that will integrate them back into what normal life is again. And then I think you’ll have a lot more success at the girls not recidivating…
[…]
I mean, I often actually thought about checking myself into drug rehab and saying I had a drug problem. [laughs] Because I fit the symptoms, and I knew that treatment would probably help me learn how to get back into normal life. I was so separated from what normal life was and so beat down from it, that I forgot how to live everyday life. And that was one thing that drug treatment programs try to teach them, you know. You make your bed every day, you do this, you do that. You know? This is how you live in, within the community again. That same thing needs to be for girls that have been trafficked, because they don’t have that anymore.
[…]
I went through many psychiatrists who would um, when I would tell them my story, literally sit on the edge of their seat. Like well, what happened next? What would your parents say? You know, and I’m like, would you like some popcorn with this story? So, you know, that was a major clue to me that they were not going to be helpful for me.
[…]
Some of these, some of these girls are taken before they even get a high school education. You know? I mean, I had a high school education, so that didn’t apply to me, but a lot of these girls are taken at 12, 13, 14 years old. You need to be able to get them their GEDs, you need to be able to give them opportunities to learn some trades, some skills, you know, and there’s so much that they get taken away from them. And people just don’t realize. What all it, it entails to bring a person back from being demoralized to [being] human again.
[…]
The best people to know are people who’ve been there… And so when you get other people who have been through it there, the girls are much more likely to open up. Much more likely to share and, and be willing to go through the program…That, that, that the guard goes down considerably more than if you just have somebody who’s just like oh, you know, I’ve been to school for this.
[…]
I think they need to offer them expungement. Expunge their record for those crimes so the girls get their lives together and can function in society again.
[…]
Oh, yeah. They’re aware. They’re not dumb. I don’t care what they say...It [harsher penalties] might deter some of the guys who will attempt it. But, they actually refer to the guys who regularly do it as “hobbyists.” Those guys I just don’t foresee being afraid of it. They, they’ve done it for so many years without getting caught…I mean it’s like , you know the life, life in prison for selling cocaine. Yet how many people are still selling cocaine?
[…]
Finding victims who have decided to become advocates. You know, such as myself. You know, I’m all for, you know. I’ll tell them, I swear I’m talking about it if it’ll take me one girl…. No problem. I, I can talk to anybody that wants to listen. I’m willing to try my best to give as much information as I can…So you know, until the higher up people are ready to listen to the victims, and ready to hear what they feel would be better, I think there’s just going to be [flying] blind.
Narrative as found in Shireen S. Rajaram and Sriyani Tidball, “Nebraska Sex Trafficking Survivors Speak —A Qualitative Research Study,” Faculty Publications, College of Journalism & Mass Communications (2016)
